I put the files on a flashdrive from my old computer, including the important gw.dat. The GW folder has 4 items. One that says ArenaNet, Gw.dat, GW, and Gw.tmp. Thats all of them, correct?

I put the folder in the Program Files (x86) folder but when I run gw.exe its like im starting it up for the first time. I start it up and its like 7000 files to download. I must have done something wrong.

Please help!

edit: whenever I run guild wars its seems to delete my gw.dat file and start it over. The file goes from 3.30 gb to like 15 mb. I dont understand...

Depending on how you copied the files to your HD. Check the exact path to make sure you do not have an extra directory. (example = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Guild Wars\Guild Wars" ) When I transferred some files like you did, I somehow wound up with an extra directory. Just a thought.

Here is what I did to fix that issue. I downloaded the client from Anet, then installed that. When I ran the program I let it go to the part where it had to do a lot of downloading (something like 35000 files) then cancelled that. I then replaced the GW.dat file with the one that was on my flash drive. That seemed to work

Yeah, at first boot (wich is actually install) the game tries to create the gw.dat. if it exist it thinks it will be faulty and starts at zero. The trick indeed is to start install the game and start first boot. then cut it off and place the full gw.dat in place. Aftert hat only the updates made after the gw.dat was saved will be downloaded.

I've never had any problems starting gw.exe after a move or a system re-install. I suspect that your problem is like Snograt mentions above. Don't put GW in either Program Files folder. Instead, create a new folder on C: to put games into. (Call it anything, but C:\Games is an obvious choice)
Then copy the GW folder from your old drive into that folder so you have C:\Games\Guild Wars
Then right-click on gw.exe (which may show up as just "gw") and choose Send To -> Desktop, to create a desktop short cut.